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PC Magazine Editor's Choice Dec 2008 - "The Best HDTV You Can Get"

"LCDs outsell all other flat-panel HDTV sets by a huge margin, but the image quality from the new Pioneer KURO PDP-5020FD plasma may just give the competition a run for its money. The 50-inch set delivers the best picture contrast of any HDTV currently available, and its range of color reproduction and consistent color accuracy are a perfect match for today's highest-quality HD video material. It also incorporates some of the most comprehensive multimedia file support that I've ever seen in any HDTV, and given that it's also Pioneer's least expensive 1080p plasma, it's a shoo-in for our Editors' Choice award."

"For those who appreciate a TV that can display an inky-dark video black, the PDP-5020FD is the king of all HDTVs—plasma or LCD. Compared with the first-gen KURO panels (like the PRO-150FD), the PDP-5020FD delivers significant picture contrast improvements by making the TV's depiction of video black almost unmeasurably dark."

Pioneer Kuro - Sound & Vision Product of the Year

World's Best Plasma vs. World's Best LCD

Sound and Vision took took the best Plasma TV they could find (Pioneer PRO 110FD 50" Elite KURO 1080p plasma HDTV) and the best LCD TV they could find (Samsung LN-T5281F), for a one-on-one match. The outcome wasn't even close. Pioneer's KURO technology places the 110FD Elite at the top of the heap. By far. The Pioneer, which many have already rated as the best flat panel ever, was the clear cut winner. The deep blacks of the Pioneer clearly factored in the outcome. The same technology places the entire KURO line up above all others. If you're looking to upgrade, go with the best HDTV in the universe, the Pioneer KURO. (Sound and Vision Magazine, February 2008)

"...when we looked over at the Pioneer, we immediately knew we were seeing something special. The same features were so deep that it made the blacks on the LCD look gray—even though this Samsung had the best blacks we've ever seen from an LCD. On the plasma, the car appeared more etched and dimensional against the dark background, thanks to the extra low-level detail, and the letterbox bars virtually disappeared into the set's black frame."

"...I think our results here have to be viewed in the context of the tremendous feat that Pioneer has accomplished with its new Kuro sets. The three of us evaluate HDTVs for a living, and we were all blown away by how virtually perfect this 50-inch Elite set was in its execution of every torture test we threw at it. "Best TV — ever" was a phrase heard more than once that day as it began to sink in just how good the darn thing was."(Sound and Vision Magazine, February 2008)

C|Net: Pioneer Kuro PDP-6020FD vs Sony KDL-55XBR8

"But as good as the Sony KDL-55XBR8 is, it still couldn't knock out the champion of the superheavyweight plasma division, Pioneer Kuro PDP-6020FD which still reigns supreme as the best HDTV overall and it costs much less, even at 60 inches, than the 55-inch KDL-55XBR8."

"The Sony 55XBR8 delivers picture quality that's nearly as good as the Pioneer... ...we still give the overall black-level performance nod to the Pioneer... ...the Sony's shadow detail was also superb, nearly as good as the Pioneer" (C|Net October 2008)